Bag filling apparatus



NOV. 6, 1934. A. MARSH 1,979,483

BAG FILLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NOV. 6, 1934.A R H 1,979,483

BAG FILLING A'PPARATUS Filed Jan. 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwumtcwPatented :Nov. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES BAG FILLING APPARATUS Esli A.Marsh, Oswego, N. Y., assignor to St.

Regls Paper Company, New York, N. Y., a corpartition of New YorkApplication January 16,

1932, Serial No. 586,992

Claims. (CL' 226-48) This invention relates to a bag fllling apparatusand has for its object to provide means for filling material into a bagat high speed without applying such friction or agitation to the mate- 5rial as to be injurious thereto.

Another object of the invention is to propel material into a bag with aminimum of friction. A further object of the inventior. is to receive astream of material'falling vertically and deflect it into a horizontaldirection without decreasing its momentum and preferably with anincrease of speed. More specifically the object of the invention is todeliver charges of material to a valve bag by producing a high speedstream of material adapted to enter the bag, and projecting that streamin. a substantially horizontal direction with a minimum of friction uponor turbulenc within the material.

The apparatus specifically devised for accomzo plishing the objects ofthis invention comprises members adapted to enclose an arcuate channeland move all the walls of the channel at substantially equalangularvspeeds throughout the are, means to deliver a stream of materialto the receiving end of the arcuate channel and to guide the stream fromthe discharge end of the arcuate channel into a bag through the valvethereof.

Details and other objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

Figure 1 is a vertical section showing apparatus embodying one form ofthe invention;

' Figure 2 is a section substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,showing details of the belt operating rollers;

Figure 3 is a view substantially on the line 33 of Figure 1, showing thedelivery spout in section and a front elevation of other portions of theapparatus;

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the de- 40 livery mechanism,substantially on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a horizontal section through the delivery spout,substantially on the line 55 of Figure 1:

Figure 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic view, similar to Figure 1, butshowing a different form of feeding apparatus;

Figure 7 is a section of another form of feeding apparatus;

Figure 8 is a vertical section of still another form of feedingapparatus; and

Figure 9 is a cross section substantially on the lin 9-9 of Figure 8 ofthe feeding apparatus shown in that view.

The apparatus disclosed herein is mounted upon a framework 10, and theessential parts are a feeding belt 11 running against a flanged pulley12 and delivering material to a delivery spout 13, and means 14 forfeeding material to the belt and wheel.

In the construction shown in Figure 1, the belt is mounted upon threerollers 15, 16 and 17.

Roller is mounted on a shaft 18 which is jourrnaled in bearings 19 onthe frame 10, and is extended at one end to carry a pulley 20 driven bya belt 21 from any suitable source of power.

Roller 16 is mounted on a shaft 22 journaledin bearings 23 upon abracket 24 pivoted at 25 upon framework 10. The lower end of bracket 24receives a rod 26 the other end of which passes through a plate 27mounted upon the frame. The end of rod 26 is screw-threaded at 28, andmay be adjusted by a nut 29 so as to swing bracket 24 upon its pivot andthereby tighten the belt, when desired.

Roller 17 is mounted upon a shaft 30 journaled in bearings til mountedupon frame 10. Wheel 12 is mounted upon a shaft journaled in bearings 36mounted upon frame 10 and spaced horizontally from roller 17 so as tobring the periphery of flanges 38 of the wheel in close contact withbelt 11 between the wheel and roller 17. The wheel has a central portion39 which leaves a groove or space 40 between the flanges. I Where theflanges run against belt 11 as the belt turns from a vertical directionbetween the flanges and rollers 17 to a practically horizontal directionas it leaves the flanges to run over roller 15, the space 40 enclosesmaterial between walls which are moving on all sides thereof. Thisportion of space 40 forms an arcuate channel receiving materialvertically and delivering it horizontally.

In front of the pulley there is a bracket 41 on which there is mounted adeflecting plate 42 which enters space 40 and extends substantially tobody 39 so as to strip material from space 40 and compel it to followbelt 11 as the belt leaves the wheel. Spout 13 is mounted in front ofthe delivery end of belt 11 and receives the material from the belt anddischarges it, through its cut off lower side 43 at its discharge end,into a bag 44, the valve of which filling tube 13 is adapted to enter.

A supporting bracket 45 extends forward from bracket 41. A bag clamp 46may be pivoted at 4'? on bracket 45, and operates to clamp a bag uponthe filling spout during the filling operation.

In the construction shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4, the material is guidedto the belt and wheel by a discharge tube 50 mounted upon a cross-piece51 which, in turn, is mounted for vertical adjustment upon frame 10 bymeans of a bolt and slot connection 52, 53. The lower end. of the spoutis substantially rectangular in cross section, and is adapted to delivera stream within space 40. The upper end of spout 50 carries a hopper 54which directs material to a gage ing 55, which has therein an opening ofthe desired size to deliver a stream of material to the belt and wheel.It is preferred to adjust the size of the opening in ring 55 to thenature of the material delivered, the speed 01 the belt and wheel, andthe distance of the ring above the belt and wheel, so that the materialwill be carried off by the belt and wheel as fast as it reaches them,and will not pile up so as to stop the momentum of the material at anytime. In other words, the material, as it drops from ring 55, isaccelerated by gravity until it reaches the belt and wheel, andthereafter is carried forward at a speed at least equaling that which ithas acquired before contacting with the belt and wheel. Preferably thebelt and wheel further accelerate the motion of the material so that itis delivered through the spout at high velocity.

In the construction shown in Figure 1, there is indicated a weighing can56 of any desired automatic weighing device, which may be tripped ifdesired by a rod 57 leading from clamp 46.

The operation of the apparatus thus far described is as follows. Thebelt 11 is run constantly by power applied from any suitable sourcethrough pulley 20. Wheel 12 also rotates constantly, either because ofthe contact of its flanges with belt 11 or from separatelyapplied power,if desired. Since drive roller 15 pulls the belt against the flanges ofwheel 12, the belt makes tight contact with those flangesbecause of thepull exerted thereon, even if the belt is slightly loose; but this tightcontact can be further insured by adjustment of bracket 24 andtightening-roller 16, if desired. With these parts in movement, a bag isplaced upon filling tube 13 and clamp 46 operated to hold the bag inposition. Either independently or by this same motion, the weighingdevice is tripped to discharge a suitable load for the bag into hopper54. From there, it runs by gravity through the opening in ring and isaccelerated by gravity, the stream being somewhat reduced in crosssection, until it reaches the belt 11 and groove 40, in a stream notgreater than the cross section of the groove. It will be noted thatguide 50 is normally out of contact with the stream of material. It willbe further noted that while the opening in ring 55 is somewhat largerthan the cross section of channel 40, it is spaced above the point wherebelt 11 covers groove 40, a suflicient distance so that gravity willreduce the cross section of the stream sufiiciently to make it as smallas that of groove 40 when it reaches the belt. Thereafter it travelswith the traveling walls of space 40 and is somewhat accelerated untilit, is stripped from the space by tongue 42 and thrown from belt 11through filling tube 13 into the bag, into which it is thus dischargedat high velocity. After the charge has been completely driven into thebag, clamp 46 is released as spider 60 within enlargement 61 in thefeeding tube. This will break up the material, if desired, and regulateits fiow in a well known manner, and may be used where the nature of thematerial being handled renders it advisable to use such means ratherthan, or in addition to, the

means shown in Figure 1 for feeding the material to the dischargingimpeller.

In Figure 7 there is shown another form of feeding device 14", which maybe employed to feed material to the discharging belt and wheel. In thisconstruction there is shown a screw 62 which may be operated by anysuitable means. and which serves to control the flow of the material andinsure a continual and even discharge to the belt.

Figures 8 and 9 show still another form of feeding device. In thesefigures there is shown a hopper 65 which tapers downwardly and hastriangular sides 66 between grooves 67, there being shown four of thesegrooves. In two of these grooves there run belts 68 which pass overupper rollers 69 and lower rollers 70, the lower rollers 70 being drivenin any suitable manner. There are shown also two belts 71 running in aplane perpendicular to the plane in which belts 68 run. The rollersaround which belts 71 pass at their lower ends are somewhat higher thanrollers 70, and for that reason, the lower ends of belts 71 may approacheach other somewhat closer than the width of belts 68, and thus withbelts 68 form a substantially square discharge opening 72, as best shownin Fig. 9. It will be readily seen that material dropped into hopper 65will be urged downward by the belts, and will leave the hopper throughopening 72 in a substantially rectangular stream at approximately thespeed of movement of the belts. It will be readily understood that thisstream is directed into the channel formed by belt 11 and wheel 12.

While, in the broader aspect of the invention, it is immaterial how thechannel 40 is charged, a preferred method is to supply it by means of astream which is accelerated and reduced in cross section as itapproaches the channel, so that the material reaches the channel atconsiderable velocity, and in a stream which will readily enter thechannel and travel with the walls thereof. In other words, the belt andwheel preferably .take all moving material and continue to move thismaterial in a changing direction, and at as great or higher speed thanthat at which it is received.

It will be seen that belt 11 and wheel 12 together form an arcuatechannel 40. The walls of this channel move at equal angular speeds aboutthe axis of shaft 35, so far as belt 11 is in contact with flanges 38,which is for substantially This may be called the propelling channel. Itwill be seen that this channel is in the shape of a 90 arc, and receivesmaterial substantially vertically and tangentially of the receiving endof the arc, while it delivers material substantially horizontally andtangentially of the delivery end of the arc. For the purpose of fillingvalve bags, it is preferable to discharge the material through asubstantially horizontal filling tube, in the manner shown, and that isthe primary purpose of this apparatus. It will be readily understoodthat, by the means shown, high velocity can be imparted to the materialwith a minimum of friction, and with a minimum of agitation or rubbingof the material. It is important in filling valve bags to have thematerial enter at high velocity, because the comparatively smallopening, desirable for the purpose of proper valve closing, requires acolumn to be fed at high velocity in order to fill the bag without adelay which would be objectionable in many plants. The avoidance offriction is always desirable, as it eliminates waste of power, excessivewear, etc. However, it is important because of another reason and thatis, that many materials which might otherwise have been filled intovalve bags have not been packaged in that manner to any great extent inthe past, because of injury the material would suifer in beingdischarged by feeding mechanisms previously in use, or because it couldnot be successively handled by such mechanism. It will be readilyseenthat, by the present mechanism, any material which can be successfullyintroduced into the entrance end of the impeller channel will bedischarged at high velocity through the filling tube into the bagwithout friction or disturbance of the material which could injure anykind of material.

As indicated, the avoidance of friction upon,

or internal disturbance within, the delivered ma-.

terial is an important feature. As indicated, the parts are soproportioned that the feeding groove is not filled completely at itsentrance end, and the speeding up of the material as it travels with thebelt is such that it is reduced at delivery point to a small streamreadily projected through the spout and bag-valve into the bag.

' While plate 42 is referred to as a "stripper", it will be readilyunderstood that the material reaches the discharge point from the groovein a stream somewhat smaller than the internal diameter of spout 13, andthis thin stream is held against the belt by centrifugal force andnormally leaves the groove without contacting plate 42. Likewise thesides of tube 13 are slightly farther apart than flanges 38, as shown inFig. 5, and therefore the stream does not normally contact the walls oftube '13, but is projected as a free stream from the end of the belt,the tube serving to confine any dust that might otherwise escape, buthaving as its principal function the holding of the bag valve open andin proper alignment.

It being desirable to feed as large a stream as practicable through thetube into the bag, the discharged stream is intended to be nearly thedepth of the tube, the same as it is nearly the width thereof. The tubecannot be enlarged without enlarging the valve of the bag,- but thechannel in the wheel may be made as deep as desired. In order that theremay be no possibility of clogging at the entrance of the channel betweenthe flanges, the groove therebetween is made materially deeper than isthe discharge tube. This relation is always desirable, and is essentialif there is acceleration of the material by the belt.

Having set forth the nature of my invention and details of one specificembodiment thereof, with some obvious variations of thejdevlces forfeeding material to the discharging impeller, it will be readilyunderstod that various changes may be made, and mechanical equivalentsmay be substituted within the spirit of the invention and accordancewith the following claims.

What I claim is: 1. In filling apparatus, an endless belt, means fordriving the upper run of the belt through a path curving from a downwarddirection to a more horizontal direction, means to deliver a stream ofmaterial to the upper end of said curve, means to support a valvebagwith its valve in position to receive material delivered tangentiallyfrom the lower end of said curve through-said valve, and means forming achannel about said stream from the time it strikes the belt until it iswithin the bag, thecross section of said channel being least where itpasses through the valve and being at all points larger than the streampassing therethrough.

2. In bag filling apparatus, members forming together complete walls foran arcuate channel, means for driving the members and moving all wallsof said channel about a common axis, means to feed material to one endof said arcuate channel in a stream never exceeding the cross section ofthe channel, and a filling spout in substantially tangential alinementwith the delivery end of said arcuate channel, said spout being adaptedto enter the valve of a valve bag and being of slightly greater widthand materially less depth than said channel. w

3. In bag filling apparatus, members forming together complete walls foran arcuate channel, means for driving the members and moving all wallsof said channel about a common axis, and means to propel materialtowards the channel in a stream that decreases in cross section andincreases in speed as it approaches the channel and reaches said channelin a cross section never exceeding that of said channel, and a deliveryspout in alignment with the delivery end of said channel and having across sectional area materially less than that of said channel butgreater than that of the delivered stream. r I

4. In bag filling apparatus, a peripherall grooved wheel mounted upon asubstantially horizontal axis, a belt, means for driving the beltthrough a closed path including a path coming into contact with one sideof said wheel and running downward around the wheel to the bottomthereof and then onward tangentially of the wheel in a substantiallyhorizontal direction until it has moved from the periphery of the wheela distance equal to the depth of said groove and thereafter departingabruptly downward from said tangential line, means for feeding materialdownward into said groove at the point where it is covered 116 by saidbelt and in a stream never greater in cross section than said groove,and a tube adapted to enter the valve of a bag and in position toreceive material thrown from the horizontal run of said belt, said tubebeing slightly wider but of ma- 120 terially less depth than saidgroove.

5. In bag filling apparatus, a peripherally grooved wheel mounted upon asubstantially horizontal axis, a belt,'means for driving the beltthrough a closed path including a path coming into contact with one sideof said wheel and running downward around the wheel to the bottomthereof and then onward tangentially of the wheel in a substantiallyhorizontal direction until it has moved from the periphery of the wheela 132 distance ebual to the depth of said groove and thereafterdeparting abruptly downward from said tangential line, feeding meansproviding an opening above said groove at the point where it is coveredby said belt, said opening being larger 135 in cross section than saidgroove and spaced above the groove a distance so that gravity willreduce the cross section of a stream dropping from the opening so thatit is never larger than sa groove when it reaches the same, and afilling tube adapted to enter the valve of a bag and in position toreceive material from said horizontal run of the belt, said tube beingslightly wider but of materially less depth than said groove.

I ESLI A. MARSH.

